Abstract
In Songs of the Lisu Hills: Practicing Christianity in Southwest China, Aminta Arrington explores Lisu Christians’ lived experiences. Lisu people are one of the fifty-five minority groups of China, and they are also spread across India, Thailand, and Myanmar. There are about 600,000 Lisu people in China, of which almost half are Christians. The China Inland Mission (CIM) evangelized Lisu in the early twentieth century, which led to mass conversions. Apart from evangelism, missionaries J. O. Fraser, Allyn Cooke, Leila Cooke, and others engaged in literary work, translating the Bible and Christian hymns into the Lisu language, using a script that Fraser adapted from the Roman alphabet. Lisu Christian faith disappeared in the “Quiet Years” (1958–80), when the Chinese state opposed all missionary activity. After 1980, however, there was a revival of Christian faith among the Lisu community in different phases.
Arrington observes the interplay between missionary influence and the Lisu culture in their expression of Christianity. For example, in traditional Lisu culture, smoking and drinking were frowned upon, which was consistent with the ethos of the CIM. These prohibitions, along with baptism, mark the external, visible form of Lisu Christian faith, connecting it with their original conversion experience. Arrington characterizes Lisu Christian practice as a form of Protestantism rooted in both Lisu culture and the CIM. Lisu faith is communal rather than individual in nature, which is evident in their shared practices of prayer, eating, line-dancing, and singing. Arrington contends that (1) Lisu singing of Western hymns is embedded in Lisu culture, (2) individuals may derive various meanings and experiences from a particular hymn, and (3) Christian hymns act as a mediator between practical life and biblical teaching.
Unlike in Western societies, Lisu Christians make no distinction between mind and body, between sacred time and secular time; for the Lisu, there is a unity in all aspects of life. In line with CIM’s historical ministry, Lisu Christianity and church are built based on self-support, self-governance, and self-evangelism. Contemporary Lisu churches stand in the middle of their villages, follow missionary Christianity, and often prioritize proselytizing. Also, they serve as a civic and spiritual center. Arrington’s exploration of Lisu Christians’ life stories and the social forces that shaped Lisu Christianity, based on in-depth archival research and ethnographic fieldwork, contributes significantly to our understanding of World Christianity and the anthropology of religion.
Editor’s note: For more on the Lisu, read Aminta Arrington, “Reimagining Discipleship: The Lisu Life-Rhythm of Shared Christian Practices,” International Bulletin of Mission Research 42, no. 3 (July 2018): 220–28, https://doi.org/10.1177/2396939317750550.